The Vendor of Shells

When we were on holiday Miranda collected lots of shells, so today she has made a shop and has beeb canvassing for business out on the street....!

Her money pot was looking quite full thanks to many obliging neighbours. Tomorrow she thinks she's putting up signs down the street to attract more business.

Cornwall

 The spirit of Summer... larking around on the beach, skinny dipping and getting a suntan. That's how we all remember our summer holidays isn't it?

This is Maen Porth on the coast path south of Falmouth.

 One of Greg's photos capturing a smile or two

Lewis had sat down in this field to watch a tractor mowing the thistles. Miranda had sat down next to him and they were jabbering away together about lord knows what.

 Racing down the hill to catch the ferry at Helford Passage. Five minutes earlier we'd set off on this walk and the rain had been hammering down, I think the sun had lifted spirits somewhat!

 We had a pleasant visit to Carn Euny, an Iron Age settlement near St Just. There were lots of well preserved remains to aid the kids imagination, and not far from here we also came across a beautiful stone circle. The afternoon was also fab, spent on the beach at Porth Nanven. We kayaked in the sea and bodyboarded, and then ate chips on the beach til sun down...

 Another day another antiquity, Carn Brea I think

 Lewis bodyboarding being persued by two snorkellers, makes for a very James Bond sort of picture! This was Kynance Cove, another fab afternoon on the beach (after a very stormy start to the day)

 Lewis is very confident in the water now, and I guess I am more confident to just stand there with a camera and snap him having fun. Greg and Miranda were in the water at every opportunity to be fair but I'm happier when I'm in the water with them just in case. I think we went in the sea most days this time - not a single time did I get turned down!

 And as ever we walked miles and miles...

 Skinny dipping on the Helford River.

 These two photos maybe should have gone up yesterday; they are from the Fowey Regatta Red Arrows display. Being steeply banked with narrow streets they put on a special display of aerial wizzardry to keep everyone guessing where they were coming from next. Quite a remarkable display, which left a rather sombre aftertaste when we discovered one of them had perished two days later at Bournemouth. We watched the display from the pub terrace in Polruan where these guys were singing Cornish songs in part, before taking part in the traditional Giant Pasty ritual - all very good fun!

You can get a good insight here and if you are interested can see a recording of the Red Arrows here

Fowey Regatta 2011

Just back from our hols in Cornwall and I'm posting a few of our first stop at Fowey where Lewis had four days racing in the Regatta with Kyle.

The boats made a great sight as they all sailed out to sea together. Sometimes they raced oat at sea and other times within the harbour area. It was quite confusing to watch from the land as the various classes took different courses, and set off at ten minute intervals...

 This is Polruan in the background as the fleet headed out to sea.

And this is the boys back on the beach at Polruan with Fowey in the background, looking very pleased with themselves. I'm not sure of their finish positions but they looked good in the water and had a great time.

I shall post a few more from our camping trip tomorrow...

Setting Sail for Fowey

Earlier in the day Lewis set off with his friend Kyle on their first racing trip together to Fowey Regatta. They are in the hands of stalwart sailing coach Terry Lankford, (Kyle's grandfather) and I just managed to get a shot as they departed with two dinghies loaded onto the trailer - an RS Feva and a Topper. They will be racing on the open sea and within the sheltered harbour between Fowey and Polruan.

Fowey Royal Regatta

Zombie

 

"Dad you've made me look like a Muppet" was Miranda's reaction to seeing my picture of her. I thought it was quite amusing that she was instanly recognisable, and she wasn't in the least bothered by it. Good to know she's got a sense of humour...

We've been for a bike ride this afternoon into Dibden Enclosure and over towards Beaulieu and back via Blackfield.

Had a few words with Lewis yesterday that his music was a bit off colour, but by today the tunes were sounding fantastic. I guess we all need 240v from time to time!

Cousin Reggie

This has long been one of our favourite reads at bedtime. It's from a book called People Poems, and I also recorded another poem which may get an airing later featuring Gregory Griggs! Miranda very keen on having herself recorded at the moment, we did Barbie Girl last night but I've not posted that one...

Treadmill

She's had a visit to the library, and come back with a book on how to look after your hamster. So Nibbles now has an exercise wheel and a new cage, much to Miranda's delight!

Knock me down with a truncheon

One from our trip down to Weymouth a week or so ago. With hindsight maybe it should have been the Police watching this for training purposes, but anyhow we all enjoyed the heavy handed fun.

Jump

Taking a few minutes lunchtime to sit and watch the boats going by (or was it the clouds going over) whilst Miranda practices her jumping over me. You know it's just a matter of time before she launches herself onto your chest.

Lewis has been sailing his model Wayfarer, having spent the morning making sails and rigging the boat. He tried it on Hatchet pond, but the weather was very gusty, so rather tricky to get it to perform. He's been adjusting rigging and redesigning components since coming home!

There's video footage on the Cowes.co.uk website of the collision between a supertanker and a yacht. A timely reminder that a blast of the horn is all you'll get if you are in their way

Popi Mows; the video

This is a shortened version of the movie, since I've been unable to download the full length version from my phone. Still no sign of Popi having returned from his summer holiday just yet; can only be a matter of time...!

Don't rock the boat...

Tomorrow night Greg and Miranda have got another sail training session, so this one is an amusing memory from the last time. Richard was giving the three five year old girls including Miranda some paddling experience, and decided to roll off the boat to deliberately extend the fun. You can just imagine the screaming and laughing that accompanied this...

One of Miranda's charming little drawings of Raggy Rabbit, her bedtime companion for quite a few years now...

Have been meaning to scan this one for a few weeks but got buried under a pile of papers. I'm no longer able to remember what the wheels represent - maybe it's a bike?

popi mows

Miranda does not give up on wanting a pet; she has imaginary ones, she has toy ones that she imagines are live. And for a very brief period she had a live one.

Popi (as she called it) was a visitor in our downstairs, and Caroline managed to get him/her/it into the observation tank, and Mippy has had great fun feeding and watering it. We even made a small movie but I had not the energy to load it onto the blog...

We took Mousey across the field at lunchtime to the far hedge and he scampered out across the grass and into a hole in the tree trunk.

The following mainly for Lewis' inspiration, but you can see Calshot in the background, and he has been out in 38 knots...

Synchronised colouring

Occasionally they are like two peas in a pod, and the symmetry in this image would have you believe this was so. Usually if I spot a photo opportunity they will have noticed and changed their behaviour by the time I'm ready to shoot; however whilst Lewi is away they seem very comfy with themselves!